Jhered sighed and spread his hands.
'Help me out, here. This can't go on. Yes, Arducius, speak.'
'We don't mean to complain. But this is worse than Marshal Vasselis's ship. We never get to see the sun. It's like being in prison. We're bored and all around us there are people we could help. Last night, .they spent hours digging wells because the Tsardon have dammed the river. Any of us could have told them where to dig and how deep. Instead, we all went thirsty. And so many have blisters, cuts and bad feet. Ossacer could help. Instead, they are made to walk in pain.'
'I hear you,' said Jhered.
'No, you don't,' said Mirron. 'You just say you do. If we were allowed to show what we can do, the army would accept us.'
'I'd love to say you were right but I'm afraid the opposite is true. Did you know that Roberto has had to practically gag his own Order Speaker to stop him giving you away and stirring up hatred? It would be so easy. If you heal wounds and divine water, it will stoke suspicion and fear, not earn you slaps on the back.'
'So how long will we be cooped up like this?' asked Arducius.
'When we reach Gestern, we can leave the army,' said Jhered. 'Perhaps take ship to Neratharn and do some work there. I don't know. I'm as frustrated as you.'
'That's five more days,' said Ossacer plaintively.
'For me, too,' said Jhered.
'Yes but you can ride in the fresh air. We have to put up with Gorian farting smellier than a horse.' Ossacer waved a hand under his nose.
'Those aren't mine, those are Ardu's,' said Gorian. 'Strange that they come from your side of the wagon,' said Ossacer.
'They do not. How can you tell?'
'Because I can trace the trails in the air, that's how.'
'No you can't, no one can.'
'Just because you can't doesn't mean no one can. I can.' 'There's nothing you can do that I can't.' 'You're still no good at healing people. Only useless animals.' 'Like the one pulling this wagon. If it drops dead, you'll have to wear the yoke.'
'And if the driver dies, who will steer it?'
'Perhaps you can do it with the power of your mind, if you're so bloody clever.'
'Well actually, I could. Perhaps it's you that can't.'
'Oh, like I couldn't control that eagle, you mean? Don't be pathetic'
'An ox is bigger than an eagle.'
'It's about will, not size, Ossacer. As I keep having to tell you because you are so thick.'
'Dear-God-around-me, will you shut up!' roared Jhered.
The silence spread further than the wagon but was broken by a ragged cheer and the odd smattering of applause. The backcloth twitched and Menas's head poked in.
'Everything all right in here?' she asked.
'Don't you start,' said Jhered. 'Yes. It's fine. We were just having a talk about maturity.'
Menas withdrew and Jhered turned back to the Ascendants, who were staring at him with a wary expectancy. A thought struck him and despite the risk to order, he couldn't resist voicing it.
'Ossacer, if you are so troubled by the smells emitting from whoever's arse, why do you not just identify the energy lines that give rise to the chemicals making the sour odours and manipulate them into something more agreeable?' He shrugged. 'You could do that, couldn't you?'
‘I don't see why not,' said Ossacer. 'Though it seems a shame to waste energy on something so trivial.'
'You said it,' growled Jhered. 'So perhaps if you would spend more time considering solutions to problems rather than bitching about them, we might all be a little happier, yes?'
There was a reluctant series of nods and mutterings of assent. Jhered grunted his satisfaction and sat down, stretching his legs across the width of the wagon.
'Look, there will come a time when there is nothing left but for you to show others the full range of your power. I might have got it wrong. It might not be to stop the war. It might be something else. But there will come a time. And you have to be ready. Now we've discussed all sorts of scenarios for wartime. I still think that is the likely avenue for your emergence into full public attention. And while we are travelling with this army, it is even more likely since they are marching to battle at the earliest opportunity.
'All I ask is this. That you bend all your efforts into being ready on the instant because you may not get much warning. And to divert yourselves from baiting each other and irritating the good citizens who have to travel near you. And most importantly of all, if Roberto Del Aglios deigns to come and see you, which one day he will, I want you ready to be polite, deferential and respectful. He is the son of the Advocate. To have him on your side would be so very valuable to you. What do you think?
'Except you, Gorian. I know what you're thinking without asking. It's not as simple as that. A random demonstration of your power is not the answer. Trust me.'
Any questions they might have had were forgotten. An order was shouted and trumpeted down the column. From without, they could hear the thundering of thousands of feet and hoofs. A large number of cavalry galloped past. Wagons followed them. Their own wagon draw to a halt. It was barely past mid-morning.
'Why have we stopped?' asked Mirron.
Jhered dragged himself to a crouch.
'I don't know. I'll find out. Remember what I've just said and act on it. Please. It's important.'
He left the wagon. There was no need to find out why they had stopped. He already knew.
Roberto had been concerned but not surprised at the amount of scouting activity from the Tsardon. Jhered had been right in one thing; while they had marched south, the Tsardon hadn't been worried by them. Now they were worried, and the speed with which they responded was frightening.
He had been leading the Conquord forces across deserted farmland, much of it stripped by his enemies. Vision was clear for miles all around and the single column he had been able to adopt had moved at an excellent pace. Four days of fast marching had bought them some time, and on this fifth day the land was changing.
They were moving into an area that had been over-logged and had led to a rising of the water table. Huge areas of sodden marshland spread from river to river, drying out only on the higher southern plateaus for which Atreska was rightly famous. These flat, forested lands were home to the best hunting grounds in the Conquord and before the war, the sport had been burgeoning, making rich men of local landowners.
Roberto had moved onto the grounds as soon as he was able, leaving the marshes to his north but limiting his options for new changes of direction in the pursuit of greater speed. Now his scouts reported a previously unseen force on the march. How it had remained hidden was a matter for debate. Presumably it had been stationed beyond the marshlands, west, in reserve. It hardly mattered. They were closing fast and threatened to cut off Roberto's preferred route to the Gesternan west coast.
The decision to halt and form the army into marching battle order had been a simple one to make. He ordered Davarov and Kastenas to his side.
'How many and how fast?' he asked his scouting team, still red from the gallop.
'Perhaps seven thousand, General. Light infantry and cavalry, very little artillery. Moving faster than we are.'
Roberto, Davarov and Kastenas had ridden the short distance away from his army to speak with the scouts. Atreska's beauty and her vulnerabilities were laid out below them. South-west, the plateau continued on for a two-day march before sloping back to sea level. It was slower because it kept them from the Conquord highway to Kirriev Harbour for longer.
Roberto had drawn up at the western edge of the plateau and looked down a gentle slope onto a small plain through which ran a narrow, shallow river.
'What's the ground like down there?' asked Davarov.
'Better than the marshland,' said the scout. She looked back down the slope up which she had ridden, it's damp for about half a mile either side but the river flow is fast and the seepage doesn't seem too bad. You could fight on it easily and bring up the artillery.'
&nbs
p; 'Good,' said Roberto. 'What else do I need to know?'
'The plain is less than two miles across to where you can see the two plateaus rising either side of the valley down which the Tsardon are coming. There are no Tsardon on top of either plateau and as you can see, they're both steep-sided and hopeless to attack up or down. There's a lake on the left-hand plateau but the right-hand is just forested. North, where the river comes in, the ground reverts to deeper marshland, and south, it's covered in rock down the river course. No one will attack from either direction.'
Roberto nodded. 'Elise, what does the enemy commander want?'
'He wants to hold us up,' she said. 'The Tsardon know they block the quicker route. I think he'll fight a running battle if he can because it'll delay our progress. He'll know we have better numbers and plenty of artillery so he won't want pitched fighting.'
'And will they head us off if we continue south-west?'
'They could,' said Davarov. 'But if they commit to battle here in the bowl, to backtrack would cost them a day. I can't believe they'll follow us because we can take them apart on the slopes here. Our problem is that they know we'd rather take them on now, to stop them joining their army at Gestern.'
'So the choice is largely made,' said Roberto. 'They'll be here in, what, four hours?' The scout nodded. 'So we can deploy in advance and take the better ground in the bowl and across the river.'
'And if we find we're chasing them up the plain?'
'Then we do,' said Roberto. 'We can place cavalry on the higher ground to counter threat from above. And if the going remains dry we can match them if we need to.'
'You don't have the time,' said a new voice from behind.
Roberto turned in his saddle. 'I don't recall inviting you to this discussion, Exchequer Jhered.' He looked at the scout team. 'Go.'
'You must trust me. Let them come. But fake your move. Be prepared to carry on south-west. Let me deal with these Tsardon.'
Roberto laughed. 'Of course, no problem. I'll happily put the lives of every citizen in my army in the hands of your little children. A command decision for which I will gain understandably huge respect.'
Jhered remained impassive. 'When have I ever advised you to make a poor decision?' Roberto refused to answer him. 'Think about it, General. Quickly.'
He turned and rode away in a hurry.
'Do you think there's anything in this Ascendants story?' asked Davarov. 'This is Jhered we're talking about here, not some in-bred from Gosland's northern marches.'
'I know,' said Roberto. 'That's what makes it all so strange. But how can I trust it? If he's wrong, Gestern and I face forty thousand rather than thirty thousand. If he's right, I don't know how many of my army will still be in camp tomorrow morning. I can't afford to believe it.' He frowned and looked at Kastenas and Davarov. 'I am right, aren't I?'
Kastenas nodded. 'There is no weapon powerful enough to defeat whole armies. If there was, the Advocate would have ordered us to use it, not just look out for him and take him in.'
'I agree,' said Davarov. 'And frankly the whole thing is so preposterous, not even my Goslander in-bred would have invented it. It's deranged, Roberto and if you trust what he says, you'll lose the army.'
Roberto felt relieved. Something about Jhered was so compelling, made it so very hard to say no. The same thing that made him such a good Exchequer.
'Right,' he said. 'Give the order. We're deploying. The camp will be on this plateau tonight. Get to it.'
It might have been cooling off outside but in the wagon it was plenty hot enough. Arducius was trying his best to keep Ossacer and Gorian from yet more argument. Mirron wasn't helping. She was siding with Gorian today and it was infuriating. But then again, what did he expect? After all, Kovan wasn't in the wagon with them at the moment so she could fawn all over Gorian without any guilt whatever. Jhered's appearance at the tail of the wagon was an unusually blessed relief.
'You lot, can you ride?' he asked.
'We aren't bad,' said Arducius. 'Horses listen to us so we don't get thrown or anything but we aren't cavalry.' 'Good. What does Ossacer do?' 'He rides behind me,' said Arducius. 'Excellent. Then four horses will do it.' 'Do what?' asked Gorian.
'Time to prove yourselves, my young Ascendants,' said Jhered. 'So, if you've been lying to me about the extent of your powers, start praying I drop dead in the next hour.'
Arducius watched the smile broaden on Gorian's face.
'What do you want us to do?' he asked.
'There's a piece of the Atreskan landscape that needs rearranging.'
Chapter 62
848th cycle of God, 40th day of Solasfall 15th year of the true Ascendancy
With the army in the midst of its deployment, they were ignored for just long enough. Their wagon was drawn up near to the crest of the plateau and they could all see what it was Jhered had described to them. Down on the plain, the Conquord army was singing as it marched. They had reached the far side of the river.
Coming towards them along the valley, the Tsardon travelled under a cloud of dust that was hemmed in by the sides of the plateaus. It seemed to Jhered, through his magnifier, that they were approaching in line order. Cavalry flanked a wide front of infantry. They were moving quickly. Jhered chewed his lip. If they got within a half mile of the legions they would be too close to Roberto and beyond what Gorian had rather chillingly called the 'raw materials' for the Work.
'Any questions?'
Jhered looked along the line of Ascendants and felt a powerful sense of guilt pass through him. They looked so young. In this army of veteran infantry and cavalry, they were tiny dots. Vulnerable and alone. God-surround-them but they didn't even have any armour. Just tunics, furs and boots. No weapons on their belts, no bows across their backs. Nothing.
What am I doing? He almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. At least, standing here, he understood Roberto's reaction. The noise and spectacle of the marching Conquord army brought him back to himself. The song rolled across the bowl, underpinned by the rhythm of thousands of feet tramping in unison. Whatever Roberto's problems, however shaved his army was of its bulk, he operated a discipline that was the envy of every Conquord general. It gave him
an advantage over anyone he faced. This time, though, it wasn't going to be enough. He could spend days chasing the Tsardon down. The Conquord simply didn't have that luxury. 'Well?'
The Ascendants were staring down at the army open-mouthed. A vast swathe of humanity moving across the ground like a cloud shadow.
'I take it you are all happy with what you need to do?'
Finally, they looked at him. Ossacer with his hand on Arducius's arm, thoughtful and determined. Arducius himself, pensive. Mirron, scared and fretful standing very close to Gorian, who stood tall, proud and confident.
'We're ready,' said Arducius.
'I will not kill anyone,' said Ossacer.
'It won't come to that,' said Jhered. 'AH you need to do is block their path and scare them away. Come on.'
He nodded at Menas and the two of them walked the short distance back to the wagon where their driver and mounted guard were waiting for them.
'I'm sorry,' said Jhered to the guard.
'Why?' he asked.
Jhered drew his gladius and placed it to the guard's neck. 'I need your horse and your shield. Right now.'
Menas was covering the driver, who already had his hands in the air. She took his rectangular shield from the seat beside him.
'In the back,' she said.
'The general will have you executed for this,' said the guard.
‘I doubt it,' said Jhered. 'But even should he do so, I will die knowing I did my duty by the Conquord. Come on, get down. I am not your enemy.'
The guard dismounted. 'My friends do not hold swords to my throat.'
'Nor do they let your comrades die needlessly,' said Jhered. 'I'm sorry you don't understand. Watch and learn. But get in the back of the wagon until we are gone.' .
The guard mov
ed away reluctantly and Jhered took the reins of his horse. An oval shield was lashed to the back of the saddle. She was a placid mare, not a cavalry horse. So much the better. She did not resist as he trotted back to the Ascendants.
'Mount up. Kovan, take Mirron. Gorian, you're behind me. Menas, I need your hands free to fire if you have to. Arducius, this one is for you and Ossacer. Quickly now.'
Jhered heard a shout behind him. Guards on the supply wagons, the mobile forge and the engineers were moving towards them. He cursed and turned to help first Arducius and then Ossacer on to their horse.
'Be ready,' he said.
Gorian had the reins of his mount. He swung up quickly into the saddle and felt Gorian mount behind him. 'Let's go!'
Jhered kicked his heels and his horse moved forwards and down the slope. It was an easy descent and he urged the animal to a fast canter. He looked behind him. The others were with him. Menas had held back against any pursuit but the guards were on foot and easily outpaced.
'You ready for this?' he asked Gorian.
it was what I was born for,' replied the Ascendant.
'Good lad.' He turned to shout over his shoulder, in line behind me. Don't deviate.'
He moved to a gallop and headed for the right-hand side of the lines. They were deployed and ready. Hastati to the front, principes stepped behind them and the triarii forming the third rank of the triplex acies classic battle formation. Jhered was relying on their discipline and order. He couldn't afford to ride around the cavalry. Too much risk of them being stopped.
The commotion of the left-hand end of the column completing its march covered his advance perfectly. He could see Roberto dead centre behind his triarii and in conversation with Neristus, his engineer. He rode past the slower-moving artillery pieces, knowing that suspicious eyes would track them and that the shouts would follow.
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